Enclosure assemblies for electrical connectors are known in the art. Known enclosure assemblies form a protective shell around the connector. A connector volume formed by the enclosure assembly is large enough to allow accommodation of various sizes of connectors for multiple connectors in a side-by-side arrangement without the need to change an inner and/or outer body of the enclosure assembly; the same enclosure assembly may be used for different connectors. The connector volume is of sufficient size to allow the connector to move within the connector volume, and consequently, the position of the connector within the connector volume can change and tolerances can be compensated. The connector can be safely mated with a respective counterpart.
European Patent No. 2302431 discloses a sealing enclosure assembly for a connector on a cable, the enclosure assembly including a cable seal adapted to sealingly engage the cable, an inner body comprising a connector volume adapted to receive the connector, and an outer body adapted to slide over the inner body to a forward position. The sealing enclosure and a mating enclosure are axially secured in the forward position by a locking element. The locking element may be a bayonet-type lock. Such an enclosure is easy to assemble and protects and reliably seals the connector from harsh environmental conditions, such as in outdoor applications. The bayonet-type lock combines the forward motion, which leads to the sealing of the connector volume by the sealing member at the rearward end of the enclosure, with a limited rotational locking motion for the axial lock. Due to the limited rotational motion, the torsion introduced into the sealing member is limited.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,338,214 discloses an enclosure assembly in which the inner body is a plug body and the outer body is a shell having a bayonet-type lock. A connector is fixably mounted in the plug body at a predetermined position.
European Patent No. 2354825 similarly discloses an enclosure assembly in which, to facilitate and ensure the sealing of the connector volume at a rearward end, the inner body has a clamping section open in the rearward direction. The sealing member slides along a strain relief element into the clamping section. The clamping section has a retainer open in the rearward direction for receiving the sealing member. In the forward position of the outer body, the clamping section is radially compressed onto the sealing member, which in turn is radially pressed onto the fastening portion of the strain relief element and the sealing member. This makes the enclosure assembly more suitable to withstand torsional strain.
European Patent No. 2579396 discloses a sealing enclosure having an electromagnetic shielding structure located within the inner body. The signal integrity of the connector is improved because the shielding structure protects the connector not only from harsh environmental conditions and mechanical hazards, as described above, but also from electromagnetic fields, electromagnetic noise, and lightning strikes. The connector disposed within the connector volume is, in most cases, already provided with shielding. The enclosure assembly adds extra protection without limiting the movability of the connector within the connector volume. By locating the electromagnetic shielding structure within the inner body, as disclosed in European Patent No. 2579396, the interaction of the inner and outer body known from the European Patent No. 2302431 and European Patent No. 2354825 remains unchanged. The electromagnetic shielding structure constitutes an additional barrier against mechanical impact.
The known electromagnetic shielding structure is formed from one or more essentially tubular solid wall elements. The electromagnetic shielding structure comprises a moveable shielding substructure and a fixed shielding substructure. The movable shielding substructure slides over the cables and is held, at least with respect to a movement of the inner body towards a forward position and/or a forward direction, by the inner body. The inner body and the moveable shielding substructure are handled as a unit. The fixed shielding substructure is fixed on the cable and the movable shielding substructure slides over the fixed shielding substructure in the forward direction. The known electromagnetic shielding structure essentially mirrors the structure of the enclosure assembly by providing a part to be mounted on the cable and a part to be moved along the cable.
The moveable and fixed substructures are automatically connected to each other in an electrically conductive manner during a movement of the inner body in the forward direction, such as a movement to an operation position. An operator does not need to connect the moveable and the fixed shielding substructure in the field, as this connection is established once the inner body is moved forward towards its operating position. The connection of the fixed and moveable shielding substructure may be located at the removal section and/or end of the connector volume.
The fixed shielding substructure and the moveable shielding substructure are connected to each other via radially deflectable contact spring. The contact springs may be part of a ring-like element, which is mounted on the end of the moveable shielding substructure. European Patent No. 2579396 discloses two contact springs, one at the rearward end and one at the forward end. The contact spring at the rearward end contacts the fixed shielding substructure. The contact spring at the forward end contacts a mating enclosure, which may be a bulkhead on a cabinet. The contact spring is a ring-like structure comprising a plurality of contact springs arranged side by side along the peripheral direction. The spring fingers are radially deflectable.
At the rearward end, the contact spring projects radially inwards and is in contact with the fixed substructure. At the forward end the contact spring is arranged on the outer surface of the fixed shielding element. The tongues of the plurality of contacts springs are elastically pressed against the shielding element. The outer body is slid over the inner body and the enclosure assembly is coupled to the mating enclosure. During the last assembly steps, the spring fingers or contact springs in the forward end may be exposed to external stress and can easily get damaged.